Of the words which Gomez Pirez spoke, and how they went to the land of
Guinea.
Gomez Pirez, who was there in that caravel of the King as chief captain,
being a man of valour and authority, began to speak of his purpose
before them all on this wise: "Me seemeth," said he, "that the
determination of the captains of these little caravels is to turn back
to the kingdom, in fear of the danger that may come upon them if the
winter finds them further than we are now. But as for you others,
honorable sirs and friends, you know right well the will of the lord
Infant: how much store he setteth on knowing somewhat of the land of the
Negroes, and especially of the river of Nile,[N136] for which reason I
am resolved to make my voyage to that land, toiling as much as I can to
get at it; and I purpose also to gain the most perfect knowledge that I
can of other matters, and on this I place all my hope of the greatest
guerdon that I can gain on this voyage: a guerdon that will not be small
for me, for I know how the lord Infant will show me grace and honour for
it, whereby I may obtain a greater profit; and since I have a ship good
enough, I should do wrong in taking any other course than this,[AL] and
if any one of the rest of you desire to keep me company I will hold fast
to all your ordinance so long as it be not outside this plan of mine."
[Footnote AL: Viz., pushing forward.]
"Of a truth I tell you," replied Lançarote, "that this purpose of yours
was also mine above all else, before you had said anything concerning
it; and it pleaseth me to fall in with your proposal, inasmuch as it was
so commanded me of the Infant, my lord." "And I," said Alvaro de
Freitas, "am not a man to hold aloof from such a company; but I say, let
us press on by all means whither soever you desire to go, be it even to
the terrestrial Paradise."[N137] With these men three others agreed, to
wit, Rodrigue Annes de Travaços, a knight of the Regent's household, and
Laurence Diaz of the same standing in the household of the Infant Dom
Henry, and Vicente Diaz, a trader. And all these, being settled in this
purpose, began at once to pursue their voyage. And after these there set
out other two caravels, to wit, one of Tavilla, and another belonging to
a man of Lagos called Bicanço, but concerning the voyage of these latter
we will defer our account to another place, forasmuch as they did not
arrive at the land of the Negroes.
And so those six caravels having set out, pursued their way along the
coast, and pressed on so far that they passed the land of Sahara,
belonging to those Moors which are called Azanegues, the which land is
very easy to distinguish from the other[AM] by reason of the extensive
sands that are there, and after it by the verdure which is not to be
seen in it[AN] on account of the great dearth of water there, which
causeth an exceeding dryness of the soil. And to this land resort
usually all the swallows, and also all the birds that appear at certain
times in this our kingdom, to wit, storks, quails, turtle-doves,
wry-necks, nightingales and linnets, and other birds of various species.
And many are there, by reason of the cold of the winter, that go from
this land[AO] and journey to that one[AP] for the sake of its warmth.
But other kinds of birds leave it in the winter, such as falcons,
herons, ring-doves, thrushes, and other birds that breed in that land,
and afterwards they come and take refuge in this because of the food
they find here suitable to their nature. And of these birds the men of
the caravels found many upon the sea, and others on land at their
breeding-places. And since I have begun to speak of this matter, I will
not omit to say a little more about the divers other kinds of birds and
fishes that I hear are to be found in that land: among which we may
speak first of all of some birds called flamingoes, which are of the
same size as herons, with necks as long, but with short feathers; also
their heads are small in comparison with their bodies, but their beaks
are huge, though short, and so heavy that their necks are not well able
to support the weight of them, in such wise that for the aid of these
same necks they always have their beaks against their legs and rested
upon them, or else upon their feathers for the residue of the
time.[N138] And there also are other birds larger than swans, called
hornbills, of which I have already spoken. And as for the fishes of
these parts, there are some that have mouths three or four palms long,
some smaller and others larger, in which mouths there are teeth both on
the one side and on the other, so close together that a finger could not
be put between one and another, and all are of fine bone, a little
larger than those of a saw and farther apart; and these fish are some as
large as and others greater than sharks, and the jaw-bones of these are
in size not greater than those of other fish. And there is another kind
of fish there, as small as mullet, that have, as it were, crowns on
their heads, like gills, through which they breathe; and if they are
turned over and put with these crowns below in a basin, they lay hold so
firmly that on attempting to withdraw them they lift the basin with
them, even as the lampreys do with their mouths while they are
quite[N139] alive. And there are also many other birds and animals and
fish in that land whose appearance we do not care to describe at length,
as it would be an occasion of wandering too far from our history.
[Footnote AM: Which they had now come to.]
[Footnote AN: The Sahara.]
[Footnote AO: Portugal.]
[Footnote AP: The Sahara.]